Gender Inequality

Every day, in every country in the world, women face discrimination, violence and unequal treatment at home, at work and in their wider communities. Find out how big the gender inequality gap is.

 

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Q. 1 Women account for … % of the world’s illiterate people

Answer Detail: b) 67 - Nearly two thirds of the world’s 781 million illiterate adults are women. Despite all the progress made over the past two decades, girls are still less likely to be enrolled in school than boys. Such inequalities remain deeply rooted, and in many societies girls’ education is not seen as a priority. According to UNESCO, if current trends continue 15 million girls roughly between the ages of 6 and 10 will never set foot in a classroom compared to about 10 million boys.

Q. 2 At least one in … women will experience some form of violence during their lifetime.

Answer Detail:

c) Three - It is estimated that 35 per cent of women - more than one billion women worldwide - have experienced either physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lives - this figure being as high as 7 in 10 in some countries. Women who have been physically or sexually abused are more than twice as likely to have an abortion, almost twice as likely to experience depression, and in some regions, 1.5 times more likely to acquire HIV or another sexually transmitted infection.

Q. 3 Around … million women alive today were married as children.

Answer Detail: a) 650 -  Approximately 650 million women alive today were married before their 18th birthday. Globally, about one in six adolescent girls (aged 15 to 19) are currently married or in union. Child, early and forced marriage has many devastating consequences and often leads to the violation of several other human rights. It increases girls’ risk of death or complications during pregnancy and childbirth, interrupts or deprives girls of their education and puts them at greater risk of sexual, physical and emotional violence.

Q. 4 About … women die from pregnancy or childbirth related complications around the world every day.

Answer Detail:

b) 830 -  Maternal deaths are the second biggest killer of women of reproductive age. Every year, around 300 000 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth – about 830 every day. 99% of them are in developing countries. Maternal deaths vary widely between regions and countries, evidencing a high level of inequality. They reflect that women often have little or no control over their fertility and reproductive health, as well as inequities in access to health services.

Q. 5 Adolescent girls and young women constitute … percent of all young people living with HIV.

Answer Detail: a) 61 -  For women aged 15-44 years, HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death worldwide. Young women and adolescent girls are particularly affected. Globally, in 2016 they were an estimated 2.4 million, constituting 61 per cent of all young people living with HIV. Young women and girls aged 15-24 are twice as likely to be at risk of HIV infection compared to boys and young men. 7000 of them become infected every week. This higher risk is associated with unsafe and often unwanted and forced sexual activity.

Q. 6 On average, women are paid … less than men.

Answer Detail: b) 24 - Globally, women are paid 24 per cent less than men for comparable work, across all regions and sectors. At the current rate of progress, it will take 170 years to close the pay gap. Women are over-represented in informal and vulnerable employment and bear disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work. The global value of women’s unpaid care work each year is estimated at $10 trillion – which is equivalent to one-eighth of the world’s entire GDP.

Q. 7 In … countries women are not allowed to do the same jobs as men.

Answer Detail: 100 - Gender differences in laws affect both developing and developed economies, and women in all regions. 155 countries have at least one law which means women have fewer economic rights than men. This includes 18 countries where husbands can legally prevent their wives from working, and 100 countries where women are not allowed to do the same jobs as men. Globally, over 2.7 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choices as men.

Q. 8 Only … per cent of all national parliamentarians are women.

Answer Detail:

24 - Women continue to be underrepresented in politics. In national parliaments, on average only 24 percent of seats were occupied by women as of November 2018, while 21 women are serving as Head of State or Head of Government. In many societies traditional role divisions between men and women inhibit women taking on more roles and occupations in public life. And when they do, they are often faced with obstacles.


 

Q. 9 Of the 500 largest corporations in the world, … have a female chief executive officer.

Answer Detail:

5 - In the private sector, women are constrained from achieving the highest leadership positions. They currently hold 26 (5.2%) of CEO positions at the 500 largest companies, which remain male-dominated. Women are less likely to be entrepreneurs and face more disadvantages starting businesses: in 40% of economies, their early stage entrepreneurial activity is half or less than half of that of men’s.


 

Q. 10 Women own less than … % of the world’s land.

Answer Detail:

20 - Less than 20 percent of the world's landholders are women. Existing statutory and customary laws still restrict women’s access to land and other types of property in most countries in Africa and about half the countries in Asia. Women’s lack of access to and control over resources limits their economic autonomy and increases their vulnerability to economic or environmental shocks.